Their Million-Dollar Night. Katherine Garbera

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      “Have you eaten here before?” she asked, hoping he’d say no so she could slip easily into her role of tour guide. She led Max past the crowd at the front of the restaurant to the maître d’, very aware of his quiet presence behind her.

      “Yes. In fact, the chef/owner is a friend of mine.”

      She smiled at the maître d’, Henry, whom she knew from her years at the hotel. Henry winked at her and she relaxed a little. This new job was not what she expected. Or should she say that Max Williams wasn’t what she’d expected. “Mr. Williams and I are ready to be seated.”

      “Certainly, Ms. O’Malley. Follow me.”

      Max put his hand on Roxy’s back as they moved through the restaurant. She tried to ignore the heat from his large palm, but she couldn’t. It made everything feminine in her pulse into awareness. That long-sleeping part of her, the part that had been dormant even before her accident started to awaken. That scared her.

      She was grateful when they reached the table and took their seats. Max asked for the wine list and the sommelier came to their table.

      “Do you have a preference?” he asked after the sommelier suggested some wines.

      “I usually buy my wine by the gallon in the supermarket,” she said. Then flushed as she realized how that sounded. “I mean—”

      Max chuckled. “I have cousins who own a vineyard in the Napa Valley. They’d be outraged to hear that anyone in the U.S. still drinks cheap wine.”

      “Sorry,” she said.

      “Don’t be. Have you ever tried South African wine?”

      “Does Gallo make one?”

      He laughed. “We’ll have a bottle of the Thelema Chardonnay 1998, Stellenbosch.”

      The sommelier left and Max turned his attention to her. She felt uncomfortable under his intense stare, as if she was naked but not in a sexual way. His gaze was probing as if he were trying to fit together all the pieces that made up Roxy O’Malley. She desperately hoped he couldn’t, because Roxy O’Malley wasn’t sure who she was anymore. Not a dancer, not a hot body, not any of the things she’d always been.

      Finally she couldn’t stand it anymore. “What?”

      “What, what?”

      “Why are you looking at me like that?”

      “Because you are a beautiful woman.”

      His words hurt in a way he couldn’t understand. Because at one time she’d have tossed her hair and given him a smile that would have brought him to his knees. “Not anymore.”

      She couldn’t believe those words had escaped. “How long will you be in Vegas?”

      “Long enough to convince you that you are beautiful.”

      “That’s not why you came,” she said, telling herself that he was here for the Vegas allure. The mindless flirting, the hours of gambling. The vacation from reality and real life.

      “My plans have changed.”

      “Well then, you won’t be needing my company anymore. I’ll let Hayden know.”

      He took her hand in his, his thumb stroking over the backs of her knuckles as it had when they first met. “I’ll still require your company, Roxy.”

      She tried to tell herself that things hadn’t turned personal, that she was still objective and just his hostess. But she knew she wasn’t.

      There was a promise of something in Max’s eyes that she wanted to claim for herself. Something elusive and tempting, and she couldn’t quite make herself ignore it.

      Two

      After dinner, Max excused himself to return several business calls. Sitting in his suite, he was aware of what his life had become. He was forty and successful but alone.

      Alone by his own design, granted. But still alone. No mistress—he’d learned the hard way that even couching an affair in business terms didn’t mean a clean break when things were over.

      Harron had made several comments about the fact that Max was lacking a wife, a family. But Max had his family. They were paid employees and a small core group of lifelong friends.

      There was a knock on his door. He hoped it would be Roxy, but knew it wouldn’t be. Instead it was the bellman with a FedEx box containing paperwork from his office.

      He took the papers with him to the minibar and poured himself a Scotch. Looking hard at his life made him realize that in his quest to make sure no one thought he was riding his father’s coattails, he’d created a vacuum. A place where no one existed except for himself.

      Ah, hell, he was getting morose. He signed the papers, dropped them in the return envelope and then swallowed his drink in two long gulps.

      He wanted Roxy.

      He wanted to spend more time with the beautiful woman who could be charming until she remembered herself. Then she was awkward and shy. And he wanted to know why. He really did want to uncover her secrets, but he sensed she wouldn’t share them. Not yet.

      He also couldn’t compromise her job. He made a quick call to Hayden and asked that Roxy’s job be changed, explaining very little to his friend, but then Hayden was a man known for being quick-witted. “I’ll be taking her out of the casino tomorrow for the day.”

      “Don’t allow my business to get in the way of your personal plans,” Hayden said.

      “You are the one who extolled her virtues.”

      “That’s right. I did, but I didn’t count on your interest interfering with my business.”

      “I won’t.”

      Max hung up the phone then dialed the front desk and asked for Roxy, knowing that even though it was almost midnight she’d be available. Everyone was always available to him in Vegas. To be truthful, wherever he traveled he was seldom turned down. He waited while he was connected to her.

      “Hello?”

      Her voice was soft and sweet, husky with fatigue, and he knew that if he were a nicer man, he’d just hang up and let her get some sleep. But he wasn’t feeling particularly nice tonight.

      “It’s Max.”

      “Did you decide what time you wanted to start in the morning?” she asked, her tone warming a little.

      Gambling was no longer the reason he was in Vegas. But he knew he’d have to keep that to himself a while longer. “No. I’m going back to the high-stakes room tonight. I need you there.”

      She hesitated and he wondered if she’d tell him no. “Oh, sure, Max. Only, I went home so it’ll take me at least a half hour to get back to the casino.”

      “Why aren’t you СКАЧАТЬ